After the euphoria of their World Cup victory, Italians are turning their attention to the corruption scandal of domestic football, reports Shadia El-Dardiry Italians, both in their country and around the globe, are still relishing their World Cup victory against France, parading the streets and praising their players. An unexpected win for a team that is far from one of the best in Italy's history, it has surely served as a source of comfort in light of the ongoing football scandal that has shaken the Italian football league since May. Under the genius leadership of coach Marcello Lippi, himself under investigation, the Azzurri -- of whom 13 play for clubs currently on trial -- used the scandal as motivation to prove to the world that their uncertain future has not come in the way of their game. The scandal erupted when police recorded telephone conversations between former manager of Juventus, Luciano Moggi -- the mastermind of the scandal -- and senior officials of the football federation discussing the appointment of referees during the 2004-2005 football season. The scandal, however, does not only include Juventus, but also AC Milan, Fiorentina, and Lazio, as well as more than 30 officials accused of sporting fraud. The names of Franco Carraro, former federation president, and Adriano Galliani, the AC Milan chief executive, are thought to be among them. Investigations have also uncovered evidence of transfer-fixing, false accounting, and bribing of members of the media. Officials are currently undergoing trials in front of the sports tribunal, and the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) has requested that the verdict come out before the end of the month, when the federation must have a list of all teams playing in the Champions League. If the prosecutors win their case, Juventus may be forced to give up its last two titles and go down to Serie C, while Lazio, AC Milan, and Fiorentina would go down to Serie B with point demotions. The consequences are clear -- Serie A would lose its strongest teams, and some of Italy's best players like Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta would probably be transferred to foreign clubs who can afford to pay their high salaries. Further investigations threaten to stretch far beyond the four teams already on trial. Clearly, football -- especially in Italy -- is not only a game. It has become a global enterprise, in which shares in the stock market, money from sponsors, and television rights promise mountains of wealth. It is logical, therefore, that the biggest tycoons own the biggest clubs. Silvio Berlusconi, former prime minister and the richest man in Italy, owns AC Milan; the Agnelli family owns Juventus; and Diego Della Valle, owner of the Tod's shoe company and affiliated with Jaguar, is president of Fiorentina. For this reason it is not surprising that former judge Francesco Borelli has been brought out of retirement to lead the investigations. Borelli was the main figure in the "clean hands" operation of the early 1990s, during which thousands of politicians and businessmen were put on trial for corruption. The football investigation, dubbed "clean feet" does not only include referees, managers, and presidents of clubs, but politicians, businessmen, police officers and judges. Italy's politico-economic structure, allowing politicians to have stakes in the media, financial institutions, financial policies and major businesses all at once, has created a web of conflicting interests, largely responsible for the rampant corruption for which Italy is notorious. In light of this, the football scandal is no surprise. It is an inevitable consequence of conflicting interests. And no one knows more about conflicting interests than Berlusconi. Politician and business tycoon, he has adamantly fought law reforms aimed at minimising conflicts of interests, all for the sake of expanding his power. For this reason, he is determined not to let his AC Milan club go down in the scandal that has rocked the country. Berlusconi maintains that AC Milan was in fact a victim of match-fixing, not involved in it. He also claims AC Milan deserves Juventus's titles from the past two years. But it is not only about football for Berlusconi, who claims the scandal serves as a political attack on his power. Such an accusation probably stems from the fact that Berlusconi views Borelli's previous "clean hands" investigation as biased to the Left. The former prime minister went so far as saying that the current investigation was a Leftist conspiracy. Italian politics remains as divided and theatrical as ever. Under Italian law all people are equal, but some are more equal than others, and the more money the better. And so Berlusconi, in light of accusations and the upcoming verdict, has decided to freeze Mediaset's payments to the Italian football league for exclusive television rights for Serie A, as reported by Corriere della Sera. He claimed that without such teams as AC Milan and Juventus in Serie A, the 61.5 million euros per season spent on the television rights are hardly worth it. Berlusconi, clearly, is showing the league that punishing AC Milan means punishing themselves. And in light of this, it will not be surprising if the punishments against the four accused clubs are less harsh than initially predicted, or that the accused will have successful appeals if an unfavourable verdict is passed. While Berlusconi defends his club from charges, other officials are attempting to defend the present corruption in Italian football. As former Juventus executive Antonio Giraudo noted, "all kinds of things go on in football: people give Rolexes to referees, people fix the accounts. What I'm saying is that this is an environment in which you have to protect yourself." For those already disillusioned by what football has become, with players being paid exorbitant sums and switching from one team to another as long as the price is right, such comments only serve to amplify the disillusionment. The world of football has become a corporate battlefield, and with dismissive comments such as Giraudo's, football fans are left questioning if football players themselves justify fixing and other offences "to protect themselves." One cannot help but wonder whether the term "protection" is synonymous with building multi-million dollar empires. But after all this, the saddest thing about the scandal is that it threatens to be a lose- lose situation for all those who are passionate about football. If the Italian courts are adamant about fighting corruption, the once great Italian football league will be paralysed for many years to come. If the scandal is played down and punishments relaxed, we remain with a corrupt Italian league controlled by men who care for riches instead of football. It is high time that Italian officials, and players, remember exactly what football used to be about.
